YKK Fastening Awards is a unique fashion design contest focused around fastening products, such as zippers, hook & loop fasteners, buckles, and snaps & buttons.
The contest is for students enrolled in schools in Japan and comprises the Apparel Category and the Fashion Goods Category.
It has grown into one of Japan’s leading fashion design contests.
Every autumn, 30 works chosen from the entries are released at the fashion show in Tokyo, Japan. The below works are the Grand-Prix of each category, the top of 6056 entries in the 18th YKK FASTENING AWARDS.
Grand-Prix in Apparel Category
【Title】 color
【Winner】
Kanae Ito, Nagoya MODE GAKUEN College of Fashion & Desogn
【Used items】
AUROLITE® PERMEX® extra type
【Comment on work】
The use of social media, such as YouTube and social networking services have become a huge boom in recently years. YouTubers and other participants express their identities and enjoy personalizing their submissions and posts. They are, as such, inspired by the “color” of their unique personalities. With the coexistence of a multitude of such colors (personalities) in society and the birth of many things of interest in the background, this designer proposes unconventional apparel that do not fit the mold.
I was inspired by the design of
AUROLITE®, which has an iridescent effect depending on the angle from which it is viewed. Original textile was also created using yarn which the designer also dyed.
【Winner's Voice】
The characteristic feature of
AUROLITE®, which looks different and changes color depending on the angle, really matched my concept. I knew the moment that I saw it for the first time that I would be using it. However, I felt that the narrowness of this zipper left me wanting more to make it match the impact of the zipper’s characteristic. So, I decided to take several zippers and align them so that their brilliance would be increased. I picked out colors that were seen in the zippers and dyed yarn to match. It took quite some time to take that yarn and tuck them into the mesh fabric that is used as the base, even for some of the smaller pieces. I hope, in the future, to become a designer who can create apparel that inspire the people who see or wear them.
Grand-Prix in Fashion Goods Category
【Title】 Shoes need umbrellas too
【Winner】
Yuma Hosokawa and Haruki Hijikata , Hiko Mizuno College of Jewely
【Used items】
AquaGuard®(coil) SOFIX®
【Comment on work】
With “shoes need umbrellas too” as the concept, a pocket containing a rain cover was attached to the instep of the shoe, so that the cover could be taken out to protect shoes in the case of sudden rain. We would like particular attention to be paid to the use of SOFIX® to make the rain cover detachable.
【Winner's Voice】
We divided our main roles between designing and producing the work. We discovered how difficult it can be to actualize a design. We also found that it was not easy to identify how we could express through this work what we felt was most important to each of us individually. There were times when things felt a bit awkward between us. But we are glad that we were able to overcome it and even happier to have won . Working on a piece by dividing roles between design and production turned into a very rewarding experience.
In the future, I hope to become a shoe designer at a sporting goods manufacturer. –Mr. Hosokawa
I am aiming to become a sneaker designer, so I was very happy that we were also complimented on the design of the shoe. –Mr. Hijikata
External link
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Account: @ykkfa
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